Kline & Company
Web Site Design and Development

Need:
Kline & Company was in need of a Web site that would reflect the firm’s position as a leading source of market research and management consulting to the world’s top organizations. Their static site would have to be reborn as an ever-changing content showcase, with easy access to a wealth of valuable statistics and market trends. It was a clear priority to increase site visits and streamline a convoluted report purchasing process. It also was clear that the makeover would need to happen quickly, as the need for a redesign had reached critical levels within the organization.

Solution:
Faced with remaking over 500 pages of static content into a vibrant, dynamic site under a tight deadline, Ridge Marketing segmented the task into smaller initiatives. They began by conducting extensive research within the organization and across the industry before embarking on design or development. “We knew we had to move quickly,” recalls Ridge Marketing founder Rob Quincy, "but if we didn’t take care to find out what Kline truly needed and to craft a suitable plan, the end product would ultimately miss the mark."

Once the business needs and user goals were clearly identified, the team outlined the site’s architecture and assisted Kline in producing content. Search engine optimization research was carried out concurrently to ensure that both the content and development would ultimately drive increased traffic to the new site.

The design team then set to work developing a graphics-rich, modern design. To soften the content-heavy interface, the team added a lively green to what had been an all blue/gray color palette. Custom photography of Kline employees at work (rather than generic stock) was taken over three photo shoots in order to project a feeling of honesty and integrity.

The team determined that the best way to satisfy the need for immediate change, without sacrificing quality, would be through phased deployment. This allowed Kline to present the radically improved interface design to the public while more complex functionality was being completed behind the scenes. "The phased approach bought us time to make the right development choices and ultimately produce a functionality-rich site that we’re all very proud of," said lead developer Brian Sowards.

The final launch included several enhancements that would allow Kline to more easily manage the site themselves while keeping content fresh. Key features include dynamic press releases, report titles and articles that appear automatically throughout the site when updated from a central admin tool. Other features include randomized quotes and statistics that change each time a page is accessed, employee profiles that dynamically display upcoming appearances and a robust sorting system designed to help users find and purchase reports efficiently.

Results:
The end result is an attractive and informative Web site that appears to change daily, is easy to navigate and can be managed internally by a small team. The response has been extremely positive both internally and externally, with the average site visit lasting more than 35 minutes. Kline CEO Joe Tarantola said of the finished product, "The look, functionality and content are well beyond my expectations and will serve us well for the future."

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